International Wreck Crew
The International Wreck Crew (or the Plunderbird boys, as they were simply known) were responsible for the creation of the series of Plunderbird robots that were entered into Robot Wars through Series 1 to 5. The team were famous for their striking demeanour, although behind the tough talking and bravado, they were one of the more sporting teams of the sport, who tended to be more concerned about their image than their robot's performance, example in Series 4, the team arrived with their robot, Plunderbird 4, in a Chinook helicopter. Despite their light-hearted attitude, the team were not unsuccessful, being awarded the Best Design trophy in Series 1 for their robot Plunderbird 1 and receiving the Sportsmanship award in Series 2 for their entertaining of the audience with their 'tough guy' attitude and their fearless aggression toward the house robots. Plunderbird 2 also reached the Semi-Finals of the Second Wars, only just losing out to Haardvark in the Gauntlet stage. The name International Wreck Crew was a pun on International Rescue, the rescue organisation in the television show Thunderbirds, after which the robots are also named. The team also competed in the 2001 edition of Techno Games with a walking robot named Junior, claiming the bronze medal in the Lightweight Sprint with the intention of building a bigger version of Junior for Robot Wars. Image The team were famous for their image, arriving in numerous different ways, clad in khaki clothing and sunglasses, which they admitted made it hard to see. The team fought two grudge matches during Extreme 1 with the Sir Chromalot and Mega Morg teams. The grudge with Sir Chromalot related to the teams' mutual entertainment value and a staged feud as to which was the better entertainers. The battle with Mega Morg regarded which of the teams was the better singers, both having sung previously during the wars (see below). The fight with Mega Morg resulted in a victory for the Plunderbird team, while they lost against Sir Chromalot. The International Wreck Crew even took the time to write their own entrance theme (in Series 2), their own rap song (in Series 3) and then two another jingles in Series 4 and Extreme 1. After Robot Wars After their Series 5 defeat, Mike Onslow and Bryan Kilburn, what was left of the team, retired from Robot Wars. However, Onslow and Kilburn continued to use Plunderbird 4 in live events (as Plunderbird 5 had been damaged beyond repair), with some degree of success, before later deciding to retire it for good. Since then, Onslow and Kilburn have brought the shells of their remaining Plunderbird machines for display purposes to certain Robotic fighting events. They continue to do this today, most recently coming along to the 2011 UK Championships with Plunderbirds 2 and 4, as well as the cutting disc weapon pod used on Plunderbird 1. Trivia * International Wreck Crew are one of five teams to win more than one award, the others being Team Mace, Team Nemesis, Team Razer and The Pneumatic Fanatics (if the unseen Best Costume Award given to The Steel Avenger in Robot Wars Extreme 1 is included). Robots Plunderbird1.gif|Plunderbird 1 Plunderbird 2.jpg|Plunderbird 2 Plunderstorm.JPG|Plunderstorm Plunderbird4.jpg|Plunderbird 4 Plunderbird5.jpg|Plunderbird 5 Plunderbird 5 WoI.png|Plunderbird 5 competing in the War of Independence of Exreme Warriors Season 1 Junior.jpg|Junior, a walkerbot built by the International Wreck Crew Plunderbird 2011.png|Plunderbird 2 and 4 (and the weapons pod for Plunderbird 1) on display at the 2011 UK Championships Wins/Losses *UK Wins: 5 *UK Losses: 8 *US Wins: 0 *US Losses: 1 Series Record *Series 1: Heat, Gauntlet with Plunderbird 1 *Series 2: Semi-Finals, Gauntlet with Plunderbird 2 *Series 3: Heat, Round 1 with Plunderstorm *Series 4: Heat, Round 2 with Plunderbird 4 *Series 5: Heat, Round 1 with Plunderbird 5 *Series 6-7: Did not enter Honours Category:Team Pages Category:Competitors in 5 Wars Category:Competitors in Techno-Games